89 Days Later as an episode title for this realistic and unsentimental relationship comedy might suggest something more horror-based, though for American Rob (Rob Delaney) there’s a certain amount of fear when he’s called 89 days after a fling with Sharon (Sharon Horgan) and learns she’s pregnant. We spoke to the pair about bunk-ups, arranged marriages and hepatitis.

Is this a reflection of your own impetuous natures?

Sharon: I’ve had an impromptu bunk-up [motions to Rob], you’ve had an impromptu bunk-up…

Rob: Sharon got pregnant with her husband when they hadn’t known each other that long, and my wife and I met each other by chance in Massachusetts 11 years ago when I had a girlfriend at the time.

I thought, “I think I want to marry her”, and I told her “I love you” so quickly and she said, “That’s weird, man”. I said, “I’ll show you”, and I’m still showing her.

Sharon: That’s so romantic.

Rob: You know, nightmarish things have happened along the way. It never works out perfectly.

Sharon: It’s just by chance that any of them do work out, whether it’s from an impromptu bunk-up or a proper scenario with dating and meeting parents.

Rob: In the first episode we discuss the merits of an arranged marriage versus a love marriage…

Sharon: … and arranged marriages are better.

Rob: Probably. In a way, wouldn’t it be nice to feel the muzzle of a gun at the back of the cerebral cortex and a voice telling you who you have to marry? You’d say: “Thank God, I don’t have to think about it.”

Sharon: I’m not sure that’s how it works.

Rob: Being happy, generally, married with two kids, I totally think it’s a valid way to do it.

Sharon: Because as we pointed out earlier, it’s going to go wrong anyway.

On screen: Sharon and Rob in Catastrophe (Picture: Ed Miller)

For how long did you think Rob and Sharon should avoid “I love you”?

Sharon: We thought long and hard about it. In fact, we had them say “I love you” to each other and then ripped it out [both laugh].

Rob: It’s better to show rather than tell. Saying “I love you” in a movie or TV show is… [Rob blows a sloppy raspberry]. Spare me.

Sharon: There’s always going to be jeopardy there, we hope, for both of these characters. If anyone says anything that concrete — even though you can say it and it can mean nothing — then suddenly there’s less tension as they both know where they stand. That’s why we ripped it out. We don’t want them to know where they stand.

You don’t want that veneer of affection?

Rob: Wouldn’t you rather him do something that demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loves her than have him say three silly syllables?

All right, name minor acts of chivalry that say “I love you”.

Rob: Breakfast in bed, well into the relationship, for no reason.

Sharon: Yes. Knowing what the other person likes and keeping a note of it, and then giving it to them at some point. That’s a beautiful thing. That I’ve never done.

Rob: Like if your loved one is sick and you help with a disgusting body thing.

Sharon: That’s a really good example. If you can do that you really do love someone, especially when it’s a man with some minor illness who’s treating it like it’s an enormous deal.

Rob: I got hepatitis A from eating some poisoned food years ago when my wife was pregnant with our first child. It was very stressful for us and I was very sick. My wife said: “I understand on paper you’re medically very ill but I don’t care, so go over there and get better quickly.”

Were you sent to a shed or something?

Rob: I was. I went to a hepatitis shed on some farmland in the centre of California. I’m better now.